Land Warfare Centre (Australia)

Land Warfare Centre
Active	1942–46 1954–present
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Training Establishment
Role	All corps officer and NCO training
Part of	Royal Military College of Australia
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ted Serong
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

The Land Warfare Centre (LWC) is an Australian Army training establishment that is responsible for the provision of promotion courses to commissioned and non commissioned officers (NCOs) in an "all corps" setting. It was originally established during World War II at Canungra, Queensland, as the Jungle Training Centre to prepare troops for combat in the South West Pacific Area. During the 1950s and 1960s, the centre fulfilled a similar role, but since then has evolved to provide a broader spectrum of training courses with detachments at a number of bases across Australia.

Under the higher Royal Military College of Australia formation, LWC has its headquarters at Canungra, Queensland, and consists of a number of wings, namely: Officer Training Wing (OTW), the Warrant and Non Commissioned Officer Academy (WONCO) and Education Wing. OTW is located at Kokoda Barracks at Canungra, while Education Wing is headquartered at Simpson Barracks in Melbourne. Headquarters WONCO is co-located with LWC headquarters, but has detachments spread throughout Australia at RAAF Edinburgh, Steele Barracks, Simpson Barracks, Gallipoli Barracks, Lavarack Barracks, and Robertson Barracks. Education Wing has small detachments at each of these locations, and also at Leeuwin Barracks in Western Australia.

The training centre draws its lineage from the Jungle Training Centre that was formed in November 1942 in response to the requirement to train troops for jungle combat in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. Under the command of Colonel Alex MacDonald, who had previously commanded the Darwin Mobile Force, the centre grew out of the Guerilla Warfare School that had been established earlier at Foster, Victoria. Located in the Gold Coast hinterland below the Beechmont plateau that stretches towards Tamborine Mountain, the establishment was located amidst thick rainforest and steep, razor-back country. Staffed by instructors that had experienced combat – mostly in the Middle East, initially, but then in New Guinea as the war progressed – upon creation the centre consisted of a number of detachments including the Reinforcement Training Centre, the Independent Company Training Centre and the Tactical School. As the demand for specialised jungle warfare training grew with Australia's increased involvement in the Pacific, the centre was expanded until it consisted of about 2,000 trainees organised into eight training companies; each week a total of 500 personnel marched out to join the infantry battalions fighting in the New Guinea campaign having completed a four-week course. In addition, the Commando Training Battalion was formed to provide reinforcements for the Australian commando units, while an officer training wing focused upon delivering specialised platoon-level training for officers over the course of a six-week program. After May 1943, the centre began to contract as its need declined, although it continued to train large numbers of soldiers under experienced senior instructors such as Major Harry Harcourt. It was finally disbanded in 1946 following the conclusion of hostilities.

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